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STATUS QUO (Latin for “The Mess We’re In”)

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Change. I hope this word doesn’t scare you but rather inspires you. Listen to Herbert Spencer’s definition: “A living thing is distinguished from a dead thing by the multiplicity of the changes at any moment taking place in it.”

Change is an evidence of life. It is impossible to grow without change. Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. The truth is, life is always at some turning point.

What people want is progress – if they can have it without change. Impossible! You must change and recognize that change is your greatest ally. The person who never changes his opinion never corrects his mistakes. The fact is, the road to success is always under construction.

Yesterday’s formula for success is often tomorrow’s recipe for failure. Consider what Thomas Watson, the founder of the IBM Corporation, once said: “There is a world market for about five computers.” Where would IBM be today if Mr. Watson had not been willing to change?

You cannot become what you are destined to be by remaining what you are. John Patterson mused, “Only fools and dead men don’t change their minds. Fools won’t. Dead men can’t.”

If you don’t respect the need for change, consider this: How many things have you seen that have changed in the past year alone? When you change yourself, opportunities will change. The same kind of thinking that has brought you to where you are will not necessarily get you to where you want to go. Sante Boeve discovered this truth: “There are people whose watch stops at a certain hour and who remain permanently at that age.”

Do not fear change, for it is an unchangeable law of progress. The man who uses yesterday’s methods in today’s world won’t be in business tomorrow. A traditionalist is simply a person whose mind is always open to new ideas, provided they are the same old ones.

“There are people who not only strive to remain static themselves, but strive to keep everything else so…Their position is almost laughably hopeless.” – Odell Shephard

Migmon McLaughlin said, “It’s the most unhappy people who most fear change.” When patterns and traditions are broken, new opportunities come together. Defending your faults and errors only proves that you have no intention of quitting them. All progress is due to those who were not satisfied to let well enough alone. They weren’t afraid to change. Change is not your enemy – it is your friend.